The Legacy Of Mahatma

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s contribution to our country needs no elaboration. His persistent struggle freed us from the shackles of servitude and took us to the path of independence, both individual and political. The nation, much obliged by his contribution, referred him as “Baapu”, meaning ‘father of the nation’ and “Mahatma”, meaning the enlightened soul.

Mahatama’s deeds encompassed a much larger sphere, going beyond the realms of politics and boundaries. He, in his lifetime, made remarkable changes to the Indian society and left trails that have been influencing large sects of people, who proudly recognize themselves as “Gandhians”. His notions of Satya and Ahimsa have even revolutionized the western thinkers, and he is venerated by one and all.

0n 2^nd October, this year, we would be celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the great soul. Many announcements have been made to commemorate his anniversary and pay tribute to the Mahatma. Amongst all the pomp and show, the basic question is have we kept his legacy?

Gandhi used Satya and Ahimsa as ‘weapons’ against the colonial rule; a rule which was atrocious and repugnant. Although being tortured and jailed, he didn’t give up to the oppressive regime and followed his principles to the core. He spoke the truth, regardless of the consequences, and the same can be seen in his biography “My experiments with truth”. But the Gandhian ideology of truth doesn’t seem to find much of place in our society. The rampant use of falsehood in both public and private spaces has contradicted Mahatama’s teaching, leading to a corrupt and insensitive system. India has one of the world’s worst rankings in asia-pacific in the global corruption perception index for the year 2017, and it has deteriorated from the previous year.  Even media, which is a pillar of our democracy, doesn’t speak and show truth due to its nexus with the offenders. Our country has been named among the "worst offenders" in terms of graft and press freedom in the Asia Pacific region.

Mahatma's teachings of Ahimsa have taken the most severe hit in the past few years. Needless to say, Mahatma was no ordinary man and had the grit of steel. He never bent to any sort of injustice but never resorted to violence. He was a strong advocate of religious harmony and was not a blind promoter of majoritarian views. But contrary to his teachings, the extreme religious sentiments in our country have been affecting the peace and harmony. The public lynching of people of different segments is a blot on a civilized society and has also earned disrepute for us in the international community. The killing of activists and journalist is an assertion of muscle power. What the feeble looking Mahatma could achieve using non-violence, is being condemned by these tiny goons by flexing their muscles.

There are several anecdotes about Gandhi which are mere reflections of his compassionate and ideological personality. He went on a fast when one of his bitter critics was attacked by a mob; went on a fast when the majoritarian section was opposed to the inclusion of all ; even coaxed his wife to stand with his cause of cleanliness. While we have made considerable progress in the later, I am aghast on the youth’s attitude towards the Mahatama.

Weaknesses are to humans as heat is to the sun. Every human being is prone and is in possession of certain weaknesses. Gandhi himself brings out this in his biography. But rather than appreciating his strength of openly accepting his weaknesses and emulating the core strength of his ideology, a section of people have been trying to malign Gandhi and mislead our youth. Lies are being spread on the social media and false campaigns are being run. The youth needs to read authentic information about the Mahatma and practice his teachings to understand the force behind them. The elderly should disseminate the information that they have learned from the ‘Gandhians’ and prevent the youth from the smear campaign so the youth they have a true encounter with Gandhigiri.